Mahzun_Savas

I guess we shouldn't be surprised that a team out of South America has real quality but they are not a normal powerhouse. Estupiñán was brilliant on the left. Valencia was outstanding, involved in a lot of quality build up down the left especially in the first half he scored the goal. I also thought Porozo was outstanding. His ability to read the play and push out of the back three to win the ball time after time was amazing. At 22 he looks like a quality upcoming player with a big future ahead of him

It was unfortunate but correct to disallow the goal. Ecudor really showing they can play some very good stuff. Much higher quality game than the two which preceded it.

Why isnt Depay starting?

If England and France play in the QFs it is going to be unfortunately premature. They are quite possibly the top two teams and if not they both would be in the top 4 sides.

Iran definitely have a chance to qualify, but so do Japan and Saudi Arabia after their wins. Japan should beat Costa Rica although I guess there is a chance 6 points are not enough in that group because Costa Rica is almost certain to lose their next two games.

Well that proved that even Qatar can score a goal if their opponents decide to stop defending. Both sides were terrible in the second half, extremely poor game. Senegal will need to play a lot better against Ecudor if they are going to progress.

Senegal are the better team but have been terrible around the edge of the box, I guess Mane help would fix that. For Qatar Afif seems like a decent player and it should have been a penalty. The rest are crap. Ali has a very good scoring record but I would be shocked if he scored a goal except perhaps if he takes a penalty.

And Wales have no chance against England unless the English players all get food poisoning or something like that. It will be a surprise if the score a goal and they certainly are going to concede a few at least.

Bale does not contribute enough for a supposed star player. He was completely missing at the start of the game when Wales were pushing forward at times. Moore was getting the ball but there was no Bale to support him. Ramsey was little better than Bale. Some suggested Iran were woeful, I don't think that is true and they were clearly the mich better side in this match. I think this highlights how good England were in beating Iran so heavily.

Yes it could not include the bonus in general but two have been finalised. First goal of the tournament, Enner Valencia, and Englands fist goal, Bellingham. I think Valencia being the first goal of the tournament had a very high success rate and Bellingham a much lower success rate.

Some games I have seen in full, some games I have seen only a half, some games only extended highlights. Best: England because I think they were playing a better side than the French with Australia and Spain with Costa Rica. For a side built around their defense I thought Costa Rica were shocking defensively. Australia started okay but far too quickly retreated to become a very timid and meek side. Wingers Leckie and Goodwin were basically playing as second full backs most of the time. I did not see Brazil play, maybe they were better. Worst: Attitude wise probably Australia, after a good start and scoring a goal they very little effort to get forward in numbers when they got the ball. At least Costa Rica tried to get forward in numbers when they got the ball. Actual performance wise probably Qatar then Costa Rica. Biggest Surprise: Obviously Saudi Arabia and Japan caused the biggest upsets. Japan do have a lot of players playing in top leagues, especially the Bundesliga, so I think they were less surprising than Saudi Arabia. However Saudi Arabia did qualify for the World Cup ahead of Japan and Australia in their group so you could argue they are the best Asian team at the moment. Biggest Disappointment. Argentina were aparently harshly done by with a goal being wrongly called offside that would have changed the game massively so saying them would probably be a bit harsh. Germany looked weak defensively when Japan attacked them. Sule is certainly not a right back, should never play there again. Schlotterbeck was terrible for the second goal and did not impress me much overall. His lack of awareness for the second goal was shocking, but there was also an incident in the first half where he recieved the ball from Rudiger and just stopped and stood there with the ball at his feet allowing a Japanese player to run and steal the ball. I think he needs to be replaced for the next game and they need to find a better right back. If nothing else play Kimmich there and start Goretzka. Apparently Belgium were very poor against Canada despite winning, I have only seen extended highlights and that was not obvious from them but Belgium should be the clearly better side against Canada. If they were not then that is very disappointing. However for me I was most disappointed in how timidly Australia played during most of the game. After being good in the first 15 or so minutes they put France under no pressure for the rest of the game. France could have and perhaps should have scored a number more goals. Mbappe's finishing was not great, the one he put over from close range might be the worst miss of the tournament. Winner: I picked France before the tournament and I am not going to change although I think England will be a very tough test for them and it would not be hugely surprising if they lost to England. I think France need Varane to come back into the side as Konate and Upamecano are largely untested at this level and as a partnership.

Are we going to get a score update at some stage?

Group A 13:00 Qatar v Senegal 0-3 16:00 Netherlands v Ecuador 2-1 Group B 10:00 Wales v Iran 2-0 19:00 England v USA 4-0 Saturday 26th November Group C 13:00 Poland v Saudi Arabia 1-1 19:00 Argentina v Mexico 3-1 Group D 10:00 Tunisia v Australia 0-1 16:00 France v Denmark 2-0 Sunday 27th November Group E 10:00 Japan v Costa Rica 2-0 19:00 Spain v Germany 3-1 Group F 13:00 Belgium v Morocco 2-0 16:00 Croatia v Canada 0-0 Monday 28th November Group G 10:00 Cameroon v Serbia 1-2 16:00 Brazil v Switzerland 3-0 Group H 13:00 South Korea v Ghana 0-0 19:00 Portugal v Uruguay 2-2

Spain have an 18 year old in Gavi but Costa Rica have their own 18 year old in Jewison Bennette. Last world cup had no 18 year olds, this year has these two plus Moukoko and Kuol at least.

Yes, he had the ball wide left once and put a decent ball into the box.

Brilliant comeback by Japan. They were brave, they through caution to the wind, they went forward with purpose and they showed their skill to win. However what the **** were Sule and Schlotterbeck doing for the second goal. Sule jogging back aimlessly behind his centre back pairing playing Asano on side and Schlotterbeck showing no awareness as he let Asano get meters behind him on side. By the time he realized Asano was charging at full speed towards goal. Simply unacceptable by both of them.

Arzani doing his ACL in his first game for Celtic was a massive bit of bad luck and it really set him back. Yes he is back in the A-league and not really starring.

A lot of it has to do with the end of traditional clubs being the top tier of football in Australia. The old NSL disappeared and was replaced with the A-league and new clubs that just did not have the foundation and routes for development the old clubs had. Also the old successful Australian institute for Sports development program was ceased as A-league clubs were supposed to have their own academinies, but they mostly do not. Some of the A-league clubs like Central Coast Mariners and Adelaide United value developing players more than other clubs but overall none of the clubs is really good enough. Also the season in Australia is too short so young players do not play enough to develop quickly and the national youth league is a joke. Still there was some luck in the group of players that came through in the late nineties and early 2000s.

Definitely, Kewell, Viduka, Cahill, Grella, Bresciano, Schwarzer were a class above the current players. We had EPL starting players, now we have championship, SPL and bench sitting players. Huge difference.

That is true, a good inspiring manager might get more out of the team, Certainly we could have pushed up more and pressured the French more than we did in the game.

Is Graeme Poll the referee?

Yes, definitely, Australia are the weakest of the Asian qualifiers. Japan and Saudi Arabia easily out qualified us in the one group while South Korea and Iran qualified directly from the other group.

If these guys saw a real rainbow they would try and ban the sky

And a lot longer than that with that injury.

The game showed the big gulf in class between the two sides. Just look where the Australians play, much lower quality leagues. It could have quite easily been a lot more goals as well. A part from the general poor quality Australia not having a striker really hurts prospects of success.